cheerful Listening : Everybody\'s Changing - Lily Allen Reading : Boxcar Children: The Surprise Island (rofl)100th post!! YAY!
Last night/this morning I went to a Warped Off Tour date featuring Cobra Starship, The Academy Is…, and headliners Gym Class Heroes at the Joint at the Hard Rock. Tyga was supposed to be there, but he didn’t perform and nobody mentioned him other than Travis name-dropping him during their set to buy his album. I was confused ’cause the promotional stuff they had specifically had him performing. And the girls I went with were determined to get their Tyga on and couldn’t. Anyways…
When we first got there, someone had set off a fire alarm. We spent the next 2 hours listening to an intermittent automated message about how something set it off and they were investigating. We stood in a ghetto-ass hallway off the casino floor which constituted the line, and I passed out the FBR street team stuff: The Cab, Cute is What We Aim For and Powerspace posters, as well as Phantom Planet duct tape style and Cute coaster stickers. One of the girls thought I was gonna come back with more! I should tell Erick that, haha. I gave most of it away, and ended up with Powerspace posters, and Cute is What We Aim For coaster-sized stickers for their new album.
We met up with A & C; I was gonna give them a ride home, so I met their dad. He seemed a little apprehensive, which I fully understand because I’m basically a stranger. I met A in the queue for Really Really Ridiculously Good Looking a few months back and she kept in touch with my niece C on MySpace.
I prolly looked like a complete ass on top of it, ’cause I was shoving chips down my throat. I was severely lacking in salt from sweating so much, so I tried to eat some salt going to replace it. Anyways, we traded numbers and the meeting went smoothly, so we got back in line. We FINALLY got inside and I decided to pass on merch this time, since I’ve got a shirt from everyone performing from other places.
I sent some messages up on the screen, mine were “fangs up Santi” and “scream if u love fbr_trash.” Nobody read the second one, and it only showed up once, so I couldn’t scream nor take a picture for it when I saw it. I took some pics of some of the funnier messages I read there, and they’re up in Cydonia. I didn’t get any of the other funnier messages later on though. It’s too hard to snap pictures when you’re so deep in the pit where we were.
The show began with Cobra Starship. Excellent set, played mostly the singles from While the City Sleeps, and the singles and a few extra from Viva. They definitely got the crowd going, considering some of us had been waiting for the show to start forever. Sound check for the shows went on past when they were supposed to open the doors. William came out for his bit in “Snakes on a Plane (Bring It)” and instead of Travis doing his part in the song, Sisky came out and did it. Gabe saw my “fbr_trash represent” sign early on in the show, and acknowledged me. It was great! I wrote it on the back of one of the Powerspace posters I had left, haha.
Next was the Academy Is… They are quite honestly one of the hardest working bands ever. Every time I’ve seen them (this is the third time now), they are amazing. Their live show has so much energy and it’s just nonstop. They always pick the right songs to keep the bodies in the pit moving.
My niece C wrote “Play Forever Young” on the back of another Powerspace poster. “Fast Times at Barrington High” drops in the fall, so they’ve been “field-testing” (so to speak) new material. “Forever Young” is one of them; it’s kinda this power pop summer song. Michael Guy Chislett kinda stopped (they were between songs anyways) to read the sign, and nodded. I gave him a thumbs-up back and they launched into “Forever Young” right after they saw it! We all figured it was on the set list and they were gonna play it anyways. But the timing was just perfect. In fact, when he did see it, he threw a guitar pick at me. Which I didn’t get ’cause I was too far away. I ended up picking up one from Ryland though, haha.
Finally, Gym Class closed the show. I made a sign that said “Where’s Tyga?” but I don’t think Travis acknowledged it. C says he saw it and ignored it. It was my first GCH show, and they put on a strong live show. Travis has this onstage charisma that not even Gabe or William has. It’s hard to explain. But he looked like he was truly having fun up there. I have never experienced Travis’ freestyle skills live and he laid a verse down for us about our generation. I wish I taped it. They covered Prince’s “When Doves Cry,” The Zombies’ “Time of the Season,” and another song that got a mosh pit going, but I forget the title. Travis busted out with his Wii Guitar Hero guitar to do it too, haha.
Something he said rang true in between songs. He was explaining to us that he was 4 months sober, after years of drug and alcohol abuse. I’m so proud of him for that, and I don’t even know him. But to have someone you admire musically go onstage and be brutally honest with you in that sense makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside. He said something like “don’t be afraid to chase your dreams.” Those weren’t his exact words, but it kinda stayed with me. I hear this kind of encouragement from kids who took the chance and focused their lives on what they love, and still I hold myself back.
But then I thought, “What am I waiting for, really? I could be a really great writer if I just believed in myself.” Funny how that came to me, in the middle of a show of all places! But that’s what music does for me. Kinda clears my mind and helps me to see what I don’t normally. I also think it was because Travie was just ripping open his heart for us too. I think that’s the mark of a great musician. Someone who lets it all hang out onstage and through their music, so you can relate to it in your own way.
“The Quilt” - the next GCH album - is dropping in September, and it’s gonna be SICK. They played a few during the show. The only one I remember is “Cookie Jar.” Which I hope will be a single ’cause it was too much fun to dance to. They performed my favourite song, “On My Own Time (Write On)” too. That song means the most to me in so many ways. They also parlayed “I Wear My Sunglasses at Night” into one of their Quilt songs. They just can’t get away from adding bits of 80s one-hit wonders to their music.
After the show, we tried to get pictures and autographs from a drunk-as-all-hell Gabe, but the Joint’s security cockblocked us. I was gonna have him pose with my fbr_trash sign, but security were being jerkoffs. So we left and we waited around for A & C, and then DeJesus (GCH’s hype man/flag waver) came out so we got pictures and autographs from him.
Vicky-T came out not long after him, and we got pics and autographs from her. I love her, honestly. She’s gorgeous in real life, and she was so nice. I should have told her I made the little fanart that’s on her MySpace.
Inspired from meeting Victoria and DeJesus, we decided to walk around the casino to find other band people.
We spotted Alex Suarez just as we ended our first round. Nasty Nate (in more ways than one) and Michael Guy Chislett were with him. But I was too chickenshit to say anything until finally they left one of the tables. The girls urged me to pull him off the casino floor (they were too young to be there), but I couldn’t at first. So I swallowed my nervousness, and walked up. I tapped Michael Guy Chislett on the arm and asked if he could take pictures with us.
He could’ve said no, I’m with my girlfriend or whatever, and I would’ve left it at that. But bless him, he told his girlfriend that he would catch up with them later. And he came with me off the floor to my niece C, A, and C. He was so gracious. I told him we were the ones who made the sign for “Forever Young” and that we saw them on Sleeping with Giants and were Santi’s Little Helpers. He took the time to take pictures with us, talk for a bit, sign stuff, and I’ll never forget that. Honestly. That was the sweetest thing ever.
Then we kept walking and two seconds later, the girls got pictures and autographs with Travis from We the Kings. They wanted me to get him earlier, but I was like, “I don’t even like him!” They’re going on tour with The Academy Is.. in the fall.
Then we strolled around one more time, and found Alex Suarez from Cobra. He teased my niece for being short and encouraged her to stand on a chair by a slot machine, which she obliged. I had to take the picture twice ’cause the first one was blurry. He was so sweet, as usual. We’ve met him once before.
After that, it was getting late but C got a nosebleed so we went to the bathroom for a bit. Then we met this girl who wanted a Cute sticker (the only things I had left from the street team package I got, I trashed the Powerspace posters), and she ended up telling us this story about how she and her mom spent $1000 to go on Warped tour in San Francisco, only to see 2 bands and not even ones they liked. She and her mother were clearly mentally disabled, but I let them talk. It looked like they needed someone to talk to, and I’m used to handling weird conversations like that.
Afterwards, we decided to do some bus stalking and followed a tour bus as far as the interchange for the I-15, where we lost it. We’re not sure whose bus we were following, but it was definitely our swan song to an already action-packed evening.
Then we drove A & C home. It was about 12:30 in the morning. They live a few exits away from Corinne, but in a weird roundabout kinda way. I got the munchies when we were doing the bus stalking, but I didn’t want to stop for food ’cause we were already so late. So me and my niece C stopped over at Wendy’s for some shitty fries, decent nuggets and burgers and drinks to fill us up. I was so tired and hungry, I could barely keep the car between the lines.
We made it home in one piece though.
Ugh, I hate my camera. I didn’t realize the flash was off so practically all my Cobra pictures came out shitty. I turned it back on for TAI. Luckily it’s not technically my camera; it’s my mom’s. I commandeered it and never gave it back, haha. But I think I might splurge on one from Dell though. I’ve got plenty of money in that account still. Gonna have to do some research first.
Anyways, if I could have the perfect lineup for a show, it would’ve been this one. The only one missing was Panic, haha. Keeping it in the Decaydance family and all. The Decaydance Fest lineup in the UK was so sick. It’s been awhile since we’ve had a fun night out like this.
*blissful*
I passed out watching “Cars” on Starz, and I woke up early, much too early. I think it’s because my brain is like “you’re gonna be late for work!” Even though I have today off.
I’m gonna tweak my sites a bit. I think I’ll bring back my photography portfolio too. I need a place to display the pictures I take. I’ve got Cydonia, my Flickr, and then I’ll have a separate photography site.
?: “How’s your weekend so far?”
contemplative Listening : Holidays in the Sun - The Sex Pistols Reading : Journey to the Center of the Earth and Boxcar Children #2 (what can I say?)
cold Listening : Jenny Don't Be Hasty - Paolo Nutini Reading : Ranma 1/2: #30, Journey to the Center of the Earth
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